WHIPPING UP NATIONALISM IS NEVER A SIGN OF STRENGTH:

Anarchy in China: Farmers angry at corruption and poverty repel riot police, and sightseers arrive to gawk at the tiny village that rose up against authorities. (Jonathan Watts, April 15, 2005, Salon)

There is a strange new sightseeing attraction in this normally sleepy corner of the Chinese countryside: smashed police cars, rows of trashed buses and dented riot helmets. They are the trophies of a battle in which peasants scored a rare and bloody victory against the Communist authorities, who face one of the most serious popular challenges to their rule in recent years.

In driving off more than 1,000 riot police at the start of the week, Huankantou village in Zhejiang province is at the crest of a wave of anarchy that has seen millions of impoverished farmers block roads and launch protests against official corruption, environmental destruction and the growing gap between urban wealth and rural poverty. China's media have been forbidden to report on the government's loss of control, but word is spreading quickly to nearby towns and cities. Tens of thousands of sightseers and well-wishers are flocking every day to see the village that beat the police.

But the consequences for Huankantou are far from clear. Having put more than 30 police in the hospital, five critically, the 10,000 residents should be bracing for a backlash. Instead, the mood is euphoric. Children have not been to school since Sunday's clash. There are roadblocks outside the chemical factory that was the origin of the dispute. Late at night the streets are full of gawking tourists, marshaled around the battleground by proud locals who bellow chaotic instructions through loudspeakers.

"Aren't these villagers brave? They are so tough it's unbelievable," said a taxi driver from Yiwu, the nearest city. "Everybody wants to come and see this place. We really admire them.

"We came to take a look because many people have heard of the riot," said a fashionably dressed young woman who had come from Yiwu with friends. "This is really big news."

One has learned not to expect much from the MSM, but not only do they seem to be missing a revolution bubbling just beneath China's surface but when they do report on things like the saber-rattling at Taiwan and Japan they seldom seem to connect it to the internal problems. Instead we get endless stories about the emerging superpower that will challenge us for years to come...

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 15, 2005 7:58 PM